Xavi Hernández: We must listen to Sabina | Soccer | Sports

Maestro Sabina sings in City Fish that “you shouldn’t try to go back to the place where you were happy.” And how right he is. This happens to me with restaurants, which I have very fond memories of from the first time I went there. Novelty surprises and fascinates me. The second time, when I repeat, it always disappoints me. This also happens to me with traveling, that’s why I always try to go to new places and enjoy them as if I’m never going to come back there again, because coming back will only make things worse in my memory. The second parts were never good, valid for films and for relationships. It is possible that this is due to the fact that in our heads we manipulate it and improve our memories. Or things may have an expiration date that most of the time we don’t respect. Everything always lasts a little longer than expected.

You always want more, you want to succeed again where you already did once. Because? The return will be worse. Why tarnish this story? The same thing happens with legends. They should be banned from coaching the club that made them eternal, the club that saw them shine. Xavi’s departure from Barça on June 30 is just another example. An exit caused by an untenable situation both on a sporting level and on an emotional level for the coach. “Being Barcelona coach is cruel, unpleasant, you feel disrespected,” the coach said in the press conference after the defeat against Villarreal. “It’s a terrible loss for mental health, mood… To the point that you say there’s no point in continuing.”

What things will Xavi’s Barça be remembered for? Will he be remembered for his time as Barça coach or for his legacy as a player?

Another announcement like that of Jurgen Klopp, who will leave the Liverpool bench at the end of the season after nine years and having won everything, opens the casting of coaches at Anfield. Among the string of names that appear on the list of candidates are those of Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard. Above all, the latter, emblem of the English entity, should be banned from coaching Liverpool. Neither he nor the club deserve it. Why tarnish such a beautiful memory? What’s the point of tarnishing a love story so perfect that it can only get worse?

Genaro Gattuso at Milan, Andrea Pirlo at Juventus, Frank Lampard at Chelsea, Ronald Koeman at Barça and Diego Armando Maradona in the Argentine national team. They all ruined something that was perfect in our imagination. Something that should not be touched, but rather appreciated as one appreciates small things. Their departures were as painful as they were necessary and each had more to lose than to gain.

This is why I say that myths cannot form the teams of their lives. Not for them, but for us. From the deepest selfishness, I refuse to accept that they could destroy something so difficult to build. We have the right to keep deep in our memories Koeman’s goal at Wembley, the hand of God, or even the Champions League that Liverpool won with Gerrard at the helm in 2005 against Milan.

Some will tell me that I forget Guardiola or Zidane. How to do it. They are responsible for all this. They made us believe that it is possible to succeed where they have seen you grow as a player. Both are the exception that proves the rule. Don’t be fooled. Let’s not waste the magic of memory.

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